Starcrasher (Shades Space Opera Book 1)

by Rock Forsberg

  Eddie came up to Jill and smiled. ‘Good to see you again. It’s been ages.’

  ‘You too,’ Jill replied, holding on to Tredd. ‘Looks like I’m joining your club of navy rejects.’

  ‘That would be a great name for a band,’ Evie said.

  Tredd felt good having his old and new friends together, and despite the pain, let a smile creep on his face.

  Eddie moved to another seat beside Henning and made the black back wall dissolve to transparency. The wall gone, the bridge had an unobstructed 180-degree view over the planet. As they flew closer, Tredd marvelled at the beautiful icy rock, like a diamond glittering in the light of its star.

  Tredd had never thought of coming back here, even less so with Jill. But now that they were here, he felt a strange sense of completeness. For a moment, it was pure bliss watching the glimmering stone, beautiful against a backdrop of infinite stars.

  Nonetheless, as soon as the planet came closer, Tredd lost the feeling, and while he tried to hold on to it, it slipped, and slipped, until the only thoughts in his mind were about his troubles. The pain pounded in his head again, and every breath caused pain on his side.

  They had escaped the Dawn Alliance, but now they had a navy ship full of incapacitated crew and a dead vice admiral. The navy would be on their backs before long, and Aino was nowhere closer to safety. Also, they were billions of kilometres from civilisation. And to top it all off, instead of a captain, he had become a passenger on a ship run by the leader of a religious community.

  TREDD FOLLOWED AS HENNING, holding Aino by the hand, led them across the glimmering snow. They had landed on the bottom of an ice-covered hill, not far from the place they had been before. This time the sun was up, the skies were blue and the snow sparkled like it was made out of billions of diamonds. The temperature was just a few degrees below zero. Apparently this was the hottest it ever got here. On the side of the hill they entered a low building, grey and barely visible through the snow, similar to, but not the same as, the one they had been to before.

  Berossus had taken a shirt and a jacket from the ship, but while the shirt stretched to his huge frame, the jacket strained around his shoulders. Entering the bunker, he juddered.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Jill asked.

  ‘I’m not going to turn,’ Berossus said, hunching down. ‘I’ve just never been anywhere this cold. How do you manage it?’

  Jill smiled. It was a sight that made Tredd forget the coldness around them.

  What he could not forget though, were the stunned soldiers they had left on the ship. Tredd had wanted to tie them down, but Henning had insisted they let them be. In explanation, he had said, ‘We should respect their lives too,’ and assured Tredd they would be of no trouble. Tredd doubted this, but agreed their visit down would be shorter than how long it would take for the navy crew to come to their senses.

  After a downward elevator trip, Henning pointed at a corridor, and said, ‘If you were to go a few kilometres this way, you would end up where you visited last time.’

  ‘How do you know?’ Tredd asked.

  ‘Aalto told me of your visit.’ Henning opened a door to a room, or really more of a hall, with a completely different style of decor from the industrial shafts they had been moving through. Colourful wool carpets covered the floor and banners hung on the walls. Tall round pillars held up the high ceiling, and at the other end was a platform on which sat an ornate chair. Above the chair hung a banner with a symbol of an intersecting star and a circle. Tredd realised it resembled something like an ancient throne room, from which kings of the olden days used to rule their kingdoms.

  ‘Welcome,’ a low voice called out.

  Tredd gasped as he saw a man sitting on the throne. He was sure that just a moment ago he had only seen an empty chair. Bare-chested and red-skinned men holding metal spears had appeared on either side of the man on the throne. Tredd was sure they had not been there when he entered the room.

  Then, suddenly, around them stood dozens of people in robes of exquisite materials, rainbow coloured and with glimmers of precious metals and stones. Like the man on the throne, they too appeared have appeared from thin air. The robed folk looked up at the man on the throne, and opened a path between them for Henning, Tredd and his crew to approach the throne.

  Aino whispered something to Evie, and Henning hushed them as they walked towards the throne.

  They came to a halt by the steps. The spearmen raised the backs of their spears up from the floor and banged them down, making a booming sound that could not be completely muffled by the tapestry. The spearman on the right took a step forward and spoke. ‘This is the Great Aalto, the Seer of Days to Come, the Guardian of Men, and One of the Five.’

  ‘My master,’ Henning said, and bowed. ‘I am remorseful to come to you with bad news.’

  Aalto sat silently, his face neutral and calm. It was difficult to determine his age, because on the surface he looked like he might have been in his late forties or fifties, but he somehow seemed to radiate an aura of a longer existence. His hair was short and dark, with a touch of grey on the sides, and his powerful jaw was shaven. He wore a long, elaborate crimson jacket with golden linings.

  ‘I am grateful to see you, young one,’ Aalto said to Henning, who still had his head slightly bowed. ‘I know what has happened, please do not consider it as a misfortune – it is what it is. We have reached an edge of a great divider we must learn to cross, or else perish. I am exultant to have you come to me now – it is not too early, nor is it too late. It is just the right time, just as it is meant to be.’

  Aalto leaned his head forward and, with a slow nod, made a gesture with his hands. Tredd thought he saw through him. Yes, he is transparent. Is that a hologram? Doesn’t look like it...

  He continued, ‘You see, the fate of all humanity is at risk. The Dawn Alliance will not be powerful enough to face the Remola, for the battle will span multiple realms of existence. They are breaching through already; the destruction of the cluster E-100X made an opening between the realms. We must rise up to them. You are the people who will lead the charge. You will unite the Shades and you will unite the realms. You hold the future…’

  As Aalto spoke, Tredd looked around. Henning and everyone in their crew focused on Aalto, like he was the show, but for the robed folk around them, they too were part of the play.

  ‘The five wield no direct power over the physical realm. Sometimes, however rarely, it is in our interest to intervene through human beings, champions like you.’

  Aalto had Tredd’s attention.

  ‘I need your help to bring us all together. Warrigal is awake and near, but the last time I heard from Efia was centuries ago. Shinzaburo has been in total silence since the dissolution of the great unity. Nenetl remains in hiding since I banished her, but as we saw, has started recruiting souls to drive her former plans again. I succeeded in misdirecting Mr Huckey because of Aino’s presence, but might be unable to do so in the future. Uniting the five will be demanding, but it is the only way – humanity needs us all.’

  Tredd tried to understand what he had just heard. Is Aalto asking for our help in uniting the Shades? They’re a myth… And then we are to fight some creatures from another realm of existence?

  Aalto rose up from the throne and stepped down the stairs. He stopped in front of Henning, placed his palms forward, and closed his eyes. He stayed still – everyone was still – for a few seconds, then opened his eyes and said, ‘Henning Dal, my apprentice, you are Order. You will bring together the best of humanity.’

  Henning bowed. ‘Master.’

  ‘Excuse me,’ Tredd said. Aalto and everyone else turned to him. ‘What does this all mean?’

  ‘It is my time to go now. My apprentice,’ Aalto said, gesturing towards Henning, ‘and Mr Exxoc will explain everything in time.’ Before anyone could say anything, he disappeared without a trace.

  Henning bowed to the empty space where Aalto had just stood.

  ‘
I hope so,’ Tredd said, thinking the name sounded familiar.

  ‘Where did he go?’ Evie asked.

  ‘Who’s Mr Exxoc?’ Eddie asked.

  Berossus grunted and glanced around the room.

  Meanwhile, everyone around them, the spearmen by the throne and the crowd in robes, had all vanished from sight. The room became silent and cool again.

  Henning turned around to face Tredd. ‘I know this must feel a bit weird… I will try and respond to every question you might have and, if I can’t, I’m sure Sarthon can. Let’s go up to meet him.’

  Tredd doubted anyone could explain this nonsense, but decided to follow through. He let Henning lead them out of the room and through a corridor, in the opposite direction to the lift from which they had come. They walked just for a minute or so, until they came up to another elevator.

  ‘This might be somewhat disorienting, but do not worry,’ Henning said as they entered through automatic sliding doors.

  The doors closed, and the elevator accelerated upwards. Berossus inched back to give more space to the others. In a few seconds the speed settled. Everyone stood silent and still. The lift started slowing down and eventually came to a stop.

  ‘That wasn’t disorienting at all,’ Evie said.

  Tredd agreed.

  Henning shrugged.

  The door opened to something that looked like an office. After the dark tunnels, the bright daylights felt as blinding as a neutron star. The walls were covered with a nauseating laminate pattern of brown and black. People scuttled about in red and black suits. It all felt very familiar, just like the FIST headquarters in the Pentafol building in Spit City.

  Tredd stepped out of the elevator, ran up to a window and peered outside. Obsidian metal spikes rose from the ground, small crafts swarming around them, and looming in the background was a red gas giant – Heeg. It wasn’t just like the FIST headquarters. It was the FIST headquarters!

  Tredd shook his head. They were far away in uncharted territory, deep inside an alien planet, meeting with an ancient god… It was already confusing, then this.

  ‘I told you it would be disorienting,’ Henning said, appearing beside him. ‘I’ve passed through a wormhole in an elevator dozens of times, but still feel weird afterwards.’

  Tredd had always thought of wormholes as something you passed through with a spacecraft, but in an elevator? On the other hand… why not? If they could hold a pinpoint hole in the middle of nowhere, doing so in an elevator shaft would be a cinch. The navy command ship and its crew have been left on the faraway planet. The navy would pick them up in due time, and find Vice Admiral Block dead… ‘It won’t be long until the navy is on to us again.’

  ‘I wouldn’t worry about that,’ Henning said, nodding forward.

  A tall man approached them. He had short grey hair and face that looked like it had been carved out of rock. It didn’t take Tredd long to realise who it was: the senior FIST officer, the boss, the same man who had sent him to seek ‘the device’.

  Henning said, ‘Tredd, this is Sarthon Exxoc.’

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  TREDD STROLLED across the FIST headquarters sky-bridge and gazed out to the twirling red storms of Heeg. He marvelled at the beauty of the massive fractal movement of its gases, and wondered how such an amazing system could ever have come into existence. Henning, Aino and Sarthon walked by his side. Over the past few days they had inducted Tredd and his crew to FIST in preparation for the upcoming task of finding the remaining Shades.

  Among other things, he had learned how FIST was organised, and how to manifest his powers more effectively. He had also learned that Aino was Henning’s real daughter – or at least her soul was. She had been a cripple like Tredd’s sister Fione. As a baby, she had neither sight nor hearing, no arms or legs to speak of, but her mind was like a supercomputer.

  Henning explained, ‘I considered her exceptional brain in a lame body to be a painful existence, and tried everything to improve the quality of her life. Artificial body extensions, however, even the most advanced ones, failed to work with her ailing body.’

  ‘It was the same with Fione,’ Tredd replied.

  ‘I was completely drained. Then one night, after I had fallen asleep sitting in front of a failed exoskeleton, I had a dream of running in the forest with Aino as a beautiful round-faced child. After waking up I took up the challenge to develop her a new body.’

  ‘You created her body?’

  Henning nodded. ‘Even with the resources passed onto me, it took years of failed experiments. She was already an adult when I could finally transfer her brain, but for her – and for me – it was a chance to relive her childhood in a normal child’s body.’

  I couldn’t create something like that in hundred years, Tredd thought, as Aino pranced around them. ‘What about the grid?’

  ‘It was a lucky byproduct,’ Henning said. ‘You see, I had created a few extra bodies for Aino, just in case, to grow up in stasis chambers – so that if anything happened to her, I could transfer her mind into a perfect new body. They were back-ups. However, when I booted up the spare instances, I noticed something remarkable: every additional instance had boosted Aino’s brainpower.’

  ‘How many did you have?’

  ‘Just five at that time, but I couldn’t resist the temptation, and created a total of 255 back-ups and ran them all. But I had to wait, take it easy, and let the grid mature. Starting active exercises in using her powers would have been a tremendous risk for her still developing brain, at least until she was sixteen.’

  ‘But she’s not sixteen, right?’

  Henning nodded. ‘She was kidnapped too early,’ he said, and looked down with a grave face. ‘I was devastated. My first thought was to protect her by disconnecting the primary instance, but that could have meant losing her forever. Instead, I woke up one of the spare instances, so I could listen in to the feelings of the primary instance, hoping it could help me to find her. However, Aalto acted quicker, and got you and your crew to deliver her to my doorstep – for which I’m still incredibly grateful.’

  Understanding that he had been an unknowing puppet of Aalto made Tredd feel uncomfortable. First he rejected the idea – he wasn’t going to be anyone’s puppet – but the more he thought of it, the firmer became the path Aalto had chosen for him. He would gladly play the role of a champion to lead humanity to victory over Remola.

  To understand the full capability of humanity, he had to start by understanding himself.

  As they strolled across the sky bridge, Henning explained about the energy he used. ‘Every time you step on the other side, you use your primal life energy – something history has referred to as Manna, Ki, Force, or Mojo, but we tend to refer to it simply as E for energy. You know the feeling after you draw on E?’

  ‘It’s worse than a hangover,’ Tredd said, looking down at the gas storms below and thinking it was the same inside his head.

  ‘It is,’ Henning said. ‘Take it far enough and it will boil your brain, drive you mad. I believe Tommy Huckey suffered this terrible fate. He will likely regain his E, but his mind he might never regain. You were not far yourself…’

  Tredd nodded. Two lengthy time-lapses in a row had taken him down deeper than he had ever been. Only in the past few days had he felt he had his energy return.

  ‘To take the next step and expand your capability, however, you need to expand your E capacity.’ Henning made a gesture of stretching an invisible ball in his hands.

  ‘The next step?’

  ‘You see, slowing relative time for others is only one manifestation of what you can do – as a time-bender, you should be able to quicken time for others too. All being relative, perhaps you could bend space too, teleport at will, but it’s hypothetical… Be that as it may, you are one of the best specimens so far, and you can improve.’

  ‘Really?’ Tredd asked in wonder. Time-lapse was something Tredd had done without thinking; he had never thought it could be anything else.


  Sarthon stopped by him and looked down to the planet, holding the railing. ‘We have devised something of a training and study programme. You will learn to expand your capacity and your capability, and hopefully help us expand our research on the power of the human mind. Your team will have their own customised programmes.’

  ‘And Aino will too,’ Henning added, picking up the girl’s hand.

  Aino shook him off and sighed. ‘Do I really have to…?’

  Henning crouched down to face her. ‘What you’ve got is a gift, you don’t want to waste—’

  Aino crossed her arms and frowned. ‘I just want to be a normal girl, to go to school and ride a rhengo through the woods.’

  ‘Perhaps you’ll get to do that too,’ Henning said.

  Aino was powerful, but still young, and without the connection to the grid of the spare Aino-instances, her power was diluted to a simple local telekinesis. It was more than anyone else her age could do, but still nothing as grand as moving stars. Her powers would develop as she matured, whether she wanted it or not. She could never lead a normal life.

  The fate of the spare instances in the hands of the Dawn Alliance officials remained uncertain. Aino said she felt their presence, which meant they were well, and also that they were active and thus unable to add to her powers. They had been able to evacuate to safety before the Grid Room and the operations facilities were all blown up in the final stage of code black – only to be captured by the navy troops. Henning wanted to retrieve the spares, but Admiral Atamian had transported them from the planet. So far, FIST intelligence had been unable to confirm their location, and Admiral Atamian had declined invitations to negotiate. By harbouring Tredd and his crew, FIST had used up its political clout with the Dawn Alliance, and relations had grown tense.

  ‘Will we go back home then?’ Aino asked.

  ‘Some day, my child,’ Henning said. ‘Some day.’